Public Pension Reform: Efforts Growing

As calls for public pension reform continue to rise, efforts to spark change are emerging on a growing number of fronts: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger suggested yesterday that he may leave office without signing a budget unless pension reform is included, Long Beach's Mayor is proposing revisions to the public pension plan, and LA City's Mayor says pension reform will be on next year's ballot.

California faces a $19 billion deficit for the fiscal year that began July 1, and Schwarzenegger is demanding pension, tax and spending reforms in the new budget. He said that if the Legislature doesn't give him a budget that meets his expectations, he won't act on it. Read the story here. To read a transcription of the discussion by the Governor's Office, click here.
 
Meanwhile, a Press-Telegram editorial notes Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster's own public pension reform proposal, and LA City Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa told the LA Daily News in a story Sunday that a pension reform measure would be on next year's ballot. To read that story, click here.
 
BizFed continues its own efforts to urge public pension reform and recently has been in communication with LACERS in a request to re-run its rate-of-return assumptions for the program using 3% and 5% - rather than the current 8% - and to make the information public. To see BizFed's request, LACERS' response, and BizFed's latest letter, click here. AND BizFed wants to hear from YOU: Answer a few quick questions on publiic pension reform HERE.